Casa Frela :: OFF THE WALL

OFF THE WALL

3 sub-albums and 1 image in this album

Album: 2005 - 2007 ART EXHIBITIONS HELD AT CASA FRELA

The time to engage in defending human rights and free expression has never been as important as it is today. With so many issues of censorship facing individuals and communities around the world the question becomes how we can learn and share from each other to make information more accessible. One opportunity has come in the form of a partnership between freeDimensional, a nonprofit organization, and Casa Frela Gallery.

With so many avenues of communication available to us today we sometimes get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information at our fingertips. For this reason, freeDimensional, an international nonprofit organization based in NYC, has teamed up with Casa Frela Gallery to make learning about and connecting to the world of human rights, free expression and the arts a more accessible exercise. We invite you to learn how nonprofits such as ours and others, which work in the field of human rights and the arts, navigate the local and global terrain.

During freeDimensional’s time at Casa Frela Gallery we will hold offices hours Monday – Friday from 12noon – 5pm. We will also host a number of events in the evening time, ranging from a screening of a Chinese dissident’s daring film of the police who guard his home, to an opening reception featuring artists and musicians (see schedule below). From 12 to 5 on weekdays, we throw open the doors to visitors and a free-flowing exchange of ideas.

Event Descriptions:
March 21st: freeDimensional will host an Opening Reception for OFF THE WALL, featuring the art work of Katherine Dolgy Ludwig, Ismael Kamara , Doa Aly and Issa Nyaphaga (visit www.freedimensional.org for more info on artists). freeDimensional will also be in residence at Casa Frela gallery from March 17th – April 12th, where will be holding office hours to engage with visitors Monday –Friday 12 to 5pm. freeDimensional will also host a closing Party on April 12th.
March 22nd: BK Factory; Performance and presentation. How BK Factory works with local musicians to envision a deeper understanding of community development.
April 4th: Asia Catalyst presents an educational event about one of China’s most prominent civil rights activists, Hu Jia, recently charged with state subversion. His wife, Zeng Jinyan, named one of Time Magazine’s “100 People Who Shape Our World” in 2007, remains under house arrest with their 3-month old baby. We will watch “Prisoners of Freedom City”, the documentary in which Hu Jia recorded life under seven months of house arrest. The film was made with a handheld digital camera. “but what it lacks in polish it makes up for with its power to send chills down your spine” (The Shanghaiist). Katie Krauss, founder and director of the AIDS Policy Project, will speak about Hu Jia’s contribution to the fight against AIDS in China.
April 5th: Global Potential: A presentation of a fresh approach to youth development, providing low-income minority Brooklyn youth with mentoring, job skills, and the opportunity to volunteer abroad in a developing world community.

Partner Organizations:
freeDimensional: www.freedimensional.org
Mission: freeDimensional organizes community arts space and local resources for the support and protection of individuals who create dialogue on global issues and inequalities through their art and media.
Vision: freeDimensional envisions a world in which diverse ideas and rigorous debate are nurtured by inclusive community spaces that are unique for their creative outlook, a process that results in direct action on critical, contemporary issues.

Asia Catalyst: www.asiacatalyst.org
Mission: asia catalyst partners with activists in Asia to inspire, create and launch innovative, self-sustaining programs and organizations that advance human rights, social justice and environmental protection. We link up Asian community leaders, journalists, activists, and lawyers with each other and with international experts who can help them to realize their visions. We incubate programs that may be too risky or innovative for established organizations to take on.
Vision: Asia Catalyst presents an educational event about one of China’s most prominent civil rights activists, Hu Jia, recently charged with state subversion. His wife, Zeng Jinyan, named one of Time Magazine’s “100 People Who Shape Our World” in 2007, remains under house arrest with their 3-month old baby. We will watch “Prisoners of Freedom City”, the documentary in which Hu Jia recorded life under seven months of house arrest. The film was made with a handheld digital camera. “but what it lacks in polish it makes up for with its power to send chills down your spine” (The Shanghaiist). Katie Krauss, founder and director of the AIDS Policy Project, will speak about Hu Jia’s contribution to the fight against AIDS in China.

Global Hood: www.global-potential.org
Mission: Global Potential: A fresh approach to youth development, providing low-income minority Brooklyn youth with mentoring, job skills, and the opportunity to volunteer abroad in a developing world community.
Vision: Global Potential empowers low-income, minority Brooklyn youth to create positive change in their lives and communities. We give them an unprecedented opportunity to go through a training program at their high school and gain specific vocational skills, receive mentoring and leadership training, and to then travel to and volunteer in a developing country. The youth will bring their new knowledge and confidence into the rural village in the Dominican Republic, and then will return to their own communities and use social entrepreneurship models to become catalysts for local social change. Global Potential has 3 primary goals: to provide (1) a formative experience for participating youth, (2) a concrete benefit to the developing world community they work with, and (3) a boon to their home communities in Brooklyn. The lasting purpose of our program, beyond equipping youth with life skills, job readiness, and global awareness, is to enable them to interact across cultures, and to develop social entrepreneurship solutions to the community needs that they will have learned to identify with the support of our partners Ashoka Youth Venture and Instituto Dominicano de Desarrollo Integral (IDDI).

BK Factory: www.bkfactory.com
Mission: Reinforcing local art scenes/community through music and sound.
Vision: Performance and presentation. How BK Factory works with local musicians to envision a deeper understanding of community development.